Combined ball and cap



Dec. 16, 1952 l.. A. o'HARE COMBINED BALL AND CAP Filed July 19, 1950 INV EN TOR.

Patented Dec. 16, 1952 UNITED STATES PATENT VOFFICE `zgcszrsn COMBINEDBALL ,AND CAP njyien onare,ir6n0ck'rines, Chir. Application-'July 19,195o, semina-17u47 -6 Claims.-

This invention comprises inovel and useful-irri-Q provements in acombined ball and cap and more specifically 4pertains 'zto .a .hollowspherical body of `flexible rair impermeable material together with -avalve assembly .therein .and :selectively usable as an inflatedspherical ballor a 'hemispherical .collapsed 'reap of the bea-nieriorskull cap type.

The primary object Aof this :invention Lis `to provide an-'inflatableand 4defiatable I'sphericrfi'l article ycapable fof vuse selectively asan ina'ted ball -or collapsed v-to1-f-unctionas :a .beanie or lskull:Serve Ein ithe 'inflated position of the article las' reinforcing`rings therefor, and lfu'nction :inthe collapsed condition of :thearticle 'as ha't bands 'on the iinterior Tand exterior surfaces =of 'theThat.

These,y together with various ancillary objects and Vfeatures of the-invention which will later become apparent as V'the followingIde'scrlp'tion proceeds, a're attained by `the'1: r`esent invention, a`'preferred embodiment of which fhas been illust-ratedjvby way ofexample =only, in theaaccompanying drawings, wherein:

Figure Jl is la sideelevational View vsho Sing a suitable :embodimentincorporating therein the principles of -this invention `and illustratedin its vvinilated Lposition for `functioning `as .a ball;

Figure' 2 `is a vertical sectional view through the article of Figure 1but showing thessarnejin its 'collapsed .or -de'flated zposition :forfunction- Ymeras a -cap VFigure/.L3 `-is -a vertical sectional viewthrough the article of `-Figure 1 yfshov'ving lthe' same in 'itsposition for use 'las -a lzball, ithe view `being taken 'substantially-upon 4-the =plane indicated by -ltlie sectionfline Y1-f3vofFigure 1';

Flgure 4 is an enlarged vertical sectional View =through 'the valvel"assembly forming' ='a part `'of the invention and showing the valve inits closed position; and, i j f 1 V*Figure 5 is xaview siiriil'arito'Figure #ibut show-''- l 2 ing the valve in its -open position, 7 thearrows indicating 'the Ydirection of air flow through the valve whilethe device is being deflated.

Referring now more ispecically .to the accom-` panying drawings, whereinVlike numerals designate similar yparts throughout the various Views, itwill be .seen that the invention com prises a spherical body I'B which-is hollow and maybe constructed of any :suitable rflexible ma-1 terialAof an air impermeable nature such las rubber, plastic lor the like,:and of any desired-size. As will :be readily understood, the "body l`may consist of a single 'sheet or vof integral yconstruction; ror maybe formed :of a number of pieces of material secured together'in anydesired manner.

About what may be-termed the vequatorial region of the body villustratedin Figure 1, there is provided a pair ,of reinforced, Jthickenedzoneslindicated bythe numerals l2 and M, whichzones are spaced from eachother. Preferably, lthese zones are-positioned equidistantly from thetrueequator of `the'loody .as illustrated. These :zones may Vbe formed'by integral thickened -portions of :the material of the body 1in; lbutpreferably consist of separate strips or -bands of Vmaterial which aresuitably .attached .as by vulcanizing or the like to :the exteriorsurface of the bodyf. In any event, these bands -I2 fand I4 constitutespaced `strengthening and reinforcing means which serve to strengthenthe body `inits flated position as shown in Figures .1 and 3';which-serve 'to produce a zone of relatively Iless rigidity .between.the bands :and `thus contribute to Aand facilitate the collapsing .of'the llower hemisphere' into the upper hemisphere as :the body is.deflated into the position shownginiliigs ure i2. In vthis v`deflatedposition, :the :band-,112 will constitute .an `outer hatband, `-while:the fband `I4 will constitute an .inner 'hatband ,the bands thusserving'to strengthen the riin of :the fhat.

The device :further includes a valve assembly indicated .generally by'the numeral i6 .and which islocated in one :of the `polar regions of-thebodm so that the same will be Vpositioned upon fthe exterior of the'two fhemi'spherical members forming the hat or deflated body as showinin Figure 2. l

Attention is Y,new directed more spei'fically to klig'ures f4 and 5`Ifor an explanation of a .fsatisfactory :construction of 'the valve:assembly f lz. As ,shown in these gures', fthe valve assembly comprisesa-plateilfcr sheet cfany suitabltmalfte'ria'l fsuch klas that of :whichV:time body vIt iis 4.constructed, this plate being-,of :any desiredshape 3 such as the disk-like shape depicted and being vulcanized orotherwise rigidly and fixedly secured in an airtight manner to theexterior surface of the body I0. Upon that surface of the plate I8 whichis adjacent the surface of the body I0, there is provided a recess 20which constitutes a valve chamber, this recess having an aperture oropening 22 opening to the atmosphere. Upon that portion of the body lwhich underlies the recess 20, there is mounted a valve member in theform' of a disk or plate 24 of any suitable material, this plate notnecessarily being of the same material as the members I0 or I8. Theplate 24 is adapted to be received within the chamber 20 in the closedposition of the valve assembly as shown in Figure 4 and'when sopositioned serves to close and prevent the escape of air from theinterior of the body l0 to the atmosphere through the opening 22. Itwill be especially noted that the valve member 24 is of a thicknesswhich is substantially equal to that of the recess 20 so that the valvewill be maintained in the recess and in the closed position by thepressure of air in the body l0.

The body l0 is provided With an opening 25 which is disposed beneath theplate I8, but out of registry with the chamber or recess 20 as Will bereadily apparent from Figures 4 and 5. The opening '26 thus constitutesan outlet from the interior of the hollow body into the valve assembly;while the opening 22 constitutes an escape or exhaust from the valveassembly to the atmosphere, the Vlatter opening being directlycontrolled by the valve 24, while the rst opening is controlled by theposition of the same relative to the under surface of the plate I8.4

From the foregoing, it is thought that the operation of the valveassembly will now be readily understood.l It is evident that when thedevice in the position shown in Figure 2, with the valve assembly beingclosed as shown in Figure 4, it is merely' necessary to apply a sourceof compressed air or other fluid to the opening 22 Whereupon'thepressure of the same will open the valve and inflate the interior of thebody I6. Alternatively, the valve member 24 may be unseated'from theport 22 as by inserting a pencil point or the like through the opening22, as shown in Figure 5, whereupon the relative vacuum existing withinthe collapsed body I0 will permit the iiow of air from the atmospherethereinto.

11 "When it is desired to deflate the inflated body toconvert thesame'to the cap shown in Figure 2, it is merely necessary to open thevalve 24 by inserting a pencil orV similar member through the opening 22as shown in Figure 5, and thrusting the valve 24 away from the opening22 and from its seated engagement with the recess 20, against which itis mainained by the pressure of the air confined within the body l0.When the valve is thus open, air Will flow from the interior of the bodyas shown by the arrows in Figure and escape to the atmosphere, andduring this escape, the lower hemisphere of the body may be pressed intothe upper hemisphere until all of the air has been exhausted and thebody is collapsed into the position shown in Figure 2.

-This collapsing action of the body will be facilitated by the abovementioned weakened zone produced between the stiffening members I2 andi4 above mentioned, thus producing a tendency of the body to fold uponthe equator of the same and position the reinforcing bands l2 and i4 asshown in Figure 2. j,

The disk 24, in addition to the valving operation describedhereinbefore, also functions to prevent puncturing of the member i0,when a sharp pointed member is inserted in the opening 22, asillustrated in Figure 5.

It will thus be apparent that there has been provided a simple andinexpensive construction selectively capable of use as a ball or as acap,

and which possesses the appreciable Aadvantages of the above mentioneddual functions, simplicity of construction, inexpensiveness and ease ofoperation; the attractions of a novelty or advertising medium.

From' the foregoing, it is thought that the construction and operationof the device together with its many advantages will now be readilyapparent and further explanation is believed to be unnecessary. However,since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to thoseskilled in the art after a consideration of the foregoing specificationand accompanying drawings, it is not desired to limit the invention to2. A combined ball and cap comprising a hollow spherical body offlexible, air impermeable material, a valve assembly in a portion ofsaid body and spaced lequatorial rein-forced thickcned zones on saidbody, said zones comprising inner and outer cap bands when onehemisphere of said body is pushed into the other, said valve assemblybeing-located atone of the poles of said body.

3. A combined ball and cap comprising a hollow spherical body offlexible, air impermeable material, a valve assembly in a portion ofsaid body and spaced equatorial reinforced thickened zones on said body,said zones comprising inner and outer cap bands when one hemisphere ofsaid body is pushed into the other, said zones comprising bands securedto the exterior surface of said body.

4. A combined ball and cap comprising a hollow spherical body of exible,air impermeable material, a valve assembly in a portion of said body andspaced equatorial yreinforced thickened zones on said body, said zonescomprising inner and outer cap bands when one hemisphere of said bodylis pushed into the other, said zones comprising bands secured tothe-exterior surface of said body, and at equal distances from theequator thereof. l

5. A combined ball and cap comprising a hollow spherical body offlexible, air impermeable material, a valve assembly in a portion ofsaid body and spaced `equatorial reinforced thick- `enedzones' on saidbody, said zones comprising `ixmer'and outer cap bands When onehemicured thereto and; movable Ainto and out ofujsaid recess forcontrolling said passage, said body having an opening beneath said plateand out registry with said recess.

6. A combined ball and cap comprising a hollow ball like body comprisinga unitary sheet of iiexible, air impermeable and elastic material, apair of annular equidistantly spaced reinforcing bands disposed aboutand secured upon a circumferential portion of said body, saidreinforcing bands being adapted to comprise inner and outer cap bandswhen the body is -folded about the space between the ban-ds wherebyone-half of the body is pushed into the other half to constitute a cap.and a Valve lassembly for selectively admitting, retaining anddischarging a gas into the interior of said Y body.

LYLE A. OHARE.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the le ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Webb Sept. 12, 1939

